


Guardian

by The Big Roman (Hammocker)



Series: Tales From the Spa [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Declarations Of Love, Dubious Morality, Established Relationship, Fights, Gun Violence, M/M, Moral Dilemmas, Nudity, Sauna, Stabbing, non-sexual nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 15:59:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17583950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hammocker/pseuds/The%20Big%20Roman
Summary: Jason didn’t think he’d ever been in a sauna in his life. Not during his life with Bruce, and definitely not in the one before Bruce. Right then, though, he was happy just being there with Roman.





	Guardian

**Author's Note:**

> This fic came about as a result of one particular scene in Teen Titan Annual #1 that features Roman in a sauna. I'd had the idea for JayRoman fics that take place in a spa for a while, but that just gave me more of an excuse. Roman's a bit of a punching bag for Damian lately, so I think it's high time that Jason got between the two of them.

Jason didn’t think he’d ever been in a sauna in his life. Not during his life with Bruce, and definitely not in the one before Bruce.

Yet it had become a semi-regular part of his life, now that he accompanied Roman on his spa days. Everything about the trips was nice, the relaxation, the company, but Jason found that he was especially fond of the wet heat of the sauna. It reminded him of a shower, but with none of the same purpose or urgency. All it existed for was to facilitate relaxation. It was about the nicest thing Jason had ever felt, especially now with the cold of Fall nipping at Jason day in and day out.

The view wasn’t too bad either. Roman made a habit of wearing nothing but a towel while he soaked in warmth, and the two of them were completely alone, giving Jason good excuse to curl up against him.

He was pretty sure that Roman enjoyed seeing Jason too, virtually naked and spread out. Jason caught his eyes wandering, to say nothing of his hands. Sometimes it led to sex, but just as often, it led to the two of them sitting against each other, twining their fingers together.

It was all a pleasant routine, easy, affectionate, and stress-free. As with anything in Jason’s life, though, it had to break eventually.

It was an especially cold November afternoon when Jason got the sense that something wasn’t right. He was sitting in the sauna, Roman at his side as usual, and something was- off. At first, he couldn’t pinpoint it. Maybe it was a strange vibration in the room, maybe the temperature was just a little off, it could have been anything, really.

Then came the first thump, or maybe it was a pop. It was near impossible to say which from where Jason was. The second he realized it, though, Jason sat up at attention, listening through the hiss of steam and clatter of pipes.

“Did you hear that?”

“You worry too much,” Roman chided, but Jason could say with confidence that, yes, Roman had heard it too.

It happened again, and again, and again, too many times to be a plumbing anomaly, or something being dropped or hit accidentally. Then, all at once, it seemed to stop.

“Relax, sweetheart,” Roman said, seeming to read Jason's thoughts.

“But-”

“We’ll cross the bridge when it comes,” he promised Jason. “For now, stay put.”

Despite Roman’s outwardly cool demeanor, the twinge in Jason’s chest would not go away. He didn’t know what was going to happen, but his body was telling him to prepare for a fight. Next to him, Roman tilted his head upward just so, but he was quiet.

That’s when he picked up on something new, but much clearer. _Clump_. _Clump_. Something was moving in the vents, slowly, but surely.

On instinct, Jason spotted the room’s vent opening on his right and watched it like a hawk. Roman didn’t discourage him this time, but nor did he seem to share Jason’s concern.

Like clockwork, Jason spotted a flash of movement beneath the grate and fan of the vent, before it was kicked open all together, and a red and black form fell out of it, landing in a crouch on top of the sauna’s bench

 _Damian_ , Jason thought while gritting his teeth. Then the thought turned to confusion. Damian? What the hell was he doing here?

Damian’s mouth was already open, ready to say something to Roman no doubt, but as soon as he saw Jason, he froze. Jason stared at Damian, and Damian stared back. Every muscle in Jason’s body was tense and ready to pounce at any second, and he couldn’t help but catch the guns holstered at Damian’s hips.

Then Damian started to laugh. A wry, cruel sound that sent a chill through Jason.

“Well, well. I never expected you to be this successful, Todd,” he said when he finally stopped laughing. “I didn’t think he’d let you _this_ close.”

Jason didn’t say a word, and he didn’t once take his eyes off of Damian. He knew full well why Damian was here, knew it from the guns he carried, and Jason would not - _could not_ \- let him go through with it.

“I suppose I should be grateful. If I had known it would be this simple, I would have come through the door.”

Damian flipped the gun over by its muzzle and offered it to Jason.

“Would you like to do the honors? Seems like you’ve sacrificed the most getting to him.”

Jason glanced at the gun before daring to look to Roman. Roman had hardly moved, though, he’d shifted his hand away from Jason. 

Very slowly, Jason reached out and took the gun from Damian. Every movement was an exercise in restraint, Jason doing all he could not to give away that he wasn’t with Damian here. Once he was certain that he had the gun, he kept it pointed away from Roman.

“I’m not doing anything. You need to go.”

The grin on Damian’s face fell, his gaze hardening as he started to realize what was going on.

“What do you mean?” he demanded, shoving a hand towards Roman. “He’s right there. This is our best chance of ridding the world of him.”

“No,” Jason repeated, more aggressive this time. “You need to leave. _Now_.”

Realization turned to disgust in an instant, Damian’s nose wrinkling and lip curling.

“Don’t tell me you think he deserves to live, Todd,” he sneered. “You can’t be that easily manipulated.”

“I’m not, and I’m not going to let you do this.” Jason drew himself up now, making himself a clear wall between Damian and Roman. “You can deal with Two-Face, or Penguin, or whoever you like, but Roman’s mine.”

“You must be joking,” Damian insisted. “They’re nothing in this city compared to the plague that is Sionis, the Black Mask.”

“Thank you,” Roman interjected, flat and detached from the situation.

Damian didn’t so much as acknowledge him. “At least the others _can_ be convicted under the law. He’s untouchable. He’ll never be hurt within this city, under this system. How can you justify letting him continue pumping drugs and chaos into the streets?”

Jason swallowed. Not simply because he knew that Damian wasn’t wrong, but because of how familiar it was. 

“You kill me, you’re bound to get something worse, kid,” Roman replied before Jason could. “If my organization goes, then that’s a wide power vacuum you’re opening up. Someone has to take the lion’s share.”

“Then we destroy those too!” Damian barked back.

“You’re not destroying anything, not in here,” Jason repeated once more. “ _Please_ , just go and we can forget about this.”

Damian’s eyes only narrowed further, like Jason was some kind of traitor to the cause. And, well, maybe he was. He could remember a time when he’d thought exactly like Damian did now. Back when he’d been angry and hurt, and he’d raged against Bruce because of those feelings. That Jason would have killed Roman just as easily as Damian wanted to now.

But that was then. Now, Jason wasn’t angry, the hurt was numbed, and everything seemed better with Roman in his life.

He wasn’t going to give Roman up, absolutely not like this.

So, when Damian moved to push past Jason, Jason pushed back.

The second that Damian felt resistance, all his attention turned to Jason. Immediately, he kicked at the space just below his knees, trying to get him on the ground. Just as quickly, Jason grabbed at Damian and pushed forward, putting more space between him and Roman, and all the while keeping his balance.

But putting distance between Damian and Roman was a double-edged sword. As soon as he realized what Jason was doing, Damian grabbed at his other gun, and reached around Jason. Jason swatted down at Damian’s arm just as the gun discharged. Jason’s blood ran cold, but he couldn’t take his attention off Damian. All he could do was hope that Roman was in the right place at the right time. He struggled with Damian for a long moment, doing all he could to force his grip on the gun to waver. And, thanks to Jason’s superior mass and strength, it didn’t take long.

The gun clattered to the ground, and Jason kicked it away. At the same time, he tossed the gun that he’d been keeping keeping on his thumb as far away as he could. The less immediate lethal force Damian had available, the better Jason’s chances.

Even without guns, though, Damian knew what he wanted to do. He ducked out of Jason’s grasp, using his size to its one advantage. He hopped out of reach before circling around to get directly at Roman. Jason knew that he had to be carrying more than just the guns, and swiveled in a frantic effort to track him. At least, Jason thought that he was going for Roman.

“Jason-!” Roman called from behind.

“Stay back!” was Jason’s reply, though, whether it was to Roman or Damian, he wasn’t entirely sure

That was when Jason felt Damian latch onto him from the back, using his full weight and kicking at Jason’s shins in a more full-on effort to ground him.

On instinct, Jason reached up to pry at the arms around his neck and did all he could not to fall as he stumbled back. As soon as he could manage, Jason shook himself like a bull trying to throw its rider. All that did was make Damian choke him harder as he clung on. Jason was gasping for air when an idea hit him.

Making like he was about to collapse, Jason stumbled backwards and picked up momentum as he went, trying to blink away the fog clouding his vision. Soon, he was practically running backwards, unconcerned with when the wall would hit. Damian realized soon after, but not soon enough. He’d barely gotten his arm off of Jason before they collided with the wall.

Just like that, Damian released all the way, giving Jason the opportunity to turn about and grab at him. Damian still had enough of his wits about him to return the favor, grabbing at Jason’s arms like he wanted to climb right over Jason.

From there, Jason wrestled with Damian for the better, more solid grip between the two of them. Once again, Jason’s size and strength became his saving grace. He targeted Damian’s arm, grabbing for his wrists and grasping hard enough for it to be painful. Damian in turn kicked out at Jason like he had before, but with far less leverage. In this position, his size was all-but-crippling him.

Of course, that’s when Damian decided it was time for trash talk.

“So, what are you now, Todd? Some kind of pet?” Damian spat. “Or are you a toy?”

“What the hell would you know?” Jason gritted out.

“More than you, it seems,” Damian said before he laughed. “He’s using you. Do you honestly think that he cares for you beyond what you can do for him?”

Jason did. He truly did, with more confidence than he’d ever had about anything. And how much he did must have shown on his face, because disgust found its way back into Damian’s expression.

“You sentimental fool,” he hissed. “He’s duped you, can’t you see that?! He won’t even deny it!”

Roman had been quiet from his position behind the two of them, but Jason trusted him. Certainly trusted him more than Damian.

“I think you need a lesson, Todd. You’ve forgotten the human garbage that _monsters_ like Sionis are.”

For a moment, Jason was once more reminded of things he’d thought and done once upon a time, before Roman came into his life. How angry he’d been, and how far he’d been willing to go, and how he almost could understand Damian. But then he kept talking.

“I was going to take care of this quickly, but maybe I need to keep him for a while.” Damian’s lips split into a cruel grin. “Show you what should be done to his kind before dispatching him.”

Maybe Damian thought that getting him angry would make him more prone to mistakes. Maybe he was just being the little shit he’d always been. Jason didn’t care one way or another. Every fiber of his being was telling him to protect Roman from this maniacal little bastard in front of him.

Jason charged forward full speed, taking Damian off his feet as he went. Were it not for the wall, Jason would have kept going for who knows how long.

For a flash of a moment, Jason saw Damian’s eyes go wide, his mouth gaped open, stunned by the impact. Jason could hardly believe what he’d just done, or that kept going.

“He’s _mine_!” Jason shouted, slamming Damian into the wall a second time. “He’s fucking mine! His life belongs to me! You so much as touch him, I’ll kill you, I swear to God!”

As Damian got his senses back, his fear was plain, much as he was trying to hide it behind even more sour disgust. 

“You- traitor,” he growled.

All at once, Jason’s hearing rang with the sound of discharge at the same time as something sharp dug into his side. For one terrifying moment, he thought that Roman had shot him, but the bullet mark in the wall and the grazed line on Damian’s cheek told him different. His eyes darted downward, and instead, Jason found a knife in his flank. Somehow, though, it didn’t hurt.

“It’ll be your head next if you make another wrong move,” Roman barked from behind.

Some kind of euphoria shot through Jason at Roman’s words, something spurred on by adrenaline and hormones spilling out thanks to his stab wound.

Finally, Jason released Damian all at once, letting him stumble to the floor.

“Leave,” Jason ordered, despite the knife still sticking out of his side. Color was bursting in the corners of his eyes, but he knew that he still needed to get rid of Damian.

Damian scrambled to pick himself up and get away from Jason. At least he was smart enough to know when he was beat.

“You can’t protect him forever,” Damian spat even as he stalked towards the door leading into the hallway. “He’s a cancer on this city, you know he is, Todd.”

“Get out!” Jason roared. “Get out before I break your neck!”

With that, Damian was scrambling out the door and out of sight. Jason didn’t move until he couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore, at which point, he turned to face Roman once more.

Roman was holding one of the stray guns, and watching Jason with a mix of horror and amazement.

“Jesus, Jason,” Roman breathed. “Where the hell did that come from?”

“I had to,” Jason breathed, glancing down at his wound. “He was going to-”

As exactly what had happened dawned on Jason, his composure began to crumble. If Jason hadn’t been there, by chance, or if he’d realized what was happening and gotten there too late… 

Jason shuddered and felt himself start to shake. He could so easily imagine exactly those scenarios happening through dumb luck, and Jason losing Roman just like that. He didn’t know what he’d do, and thinking about the pain that would cause, combined with the knife wound had Jason’s knees weak beneath him.

Roman placed the gun aside before briskly approaching Jason.

“S-sh,” he soothed, putting an arm around Jason to support him while minding the wound. “You saved my life. Thank you.”

“Of course I did, I always would, I-” Jason started, in a breathless almost-laugh. “You should- you should know I-”

“Take it easy,” Roman broke in before Jason could finish. “We need to get you help.”

All Jason could do was nod and follow along as Roman guided him out of the sauna, both of them still completely naked, his unspoken feelings burning his throat. None of that mattered to Jason. All that mattered was that Roman was alive and the two of them were together.

*****

Jason must have passed out at some point. He couldn’t remember being taken to a hospital, nor did he remember having the knife pulled out of his flank. He briefly came to and saw a doctor or someone bandaging the wound, but fell back into a dreamless sleep soon thereafter.

When he woke once more, Jason was aware of two things immediately: the comfortable warmth, and his own dry mouth. He blinked once or twice as his vision started to clear, and tilted his head to look around. Sure enough, the sterile, off-white walls of a hospital became clear around him.

Then, as he glanced left, he found Roman sitting in an armchair at his side. Their eyes met, and Jason found a smile crossing his face. Somehow, as they sat there, just looking at each other, Jason thought that Roman was smiling back too. It warmed Jason to his core.

“Hey,” he said at last.

“Hey,” Roman echoed back at him.

Another pause stretched between them, in which they simply looked at each other. Basked in each other and that they were alive and together.

“You okay?” Jason asked.

That punched a laugh of disbelief out of Roman. “Me? Kid, you got stabbed and you did most of the fighting. I’m more worried about you being okay.”

Jason shrugged. “I feel fine.”

Again, Roman chuckled, relief clear in the sound. “Good. I’m glad.”

They fell into silence again, oddly pleasant and reflective. Neither of them seemed to feel any particular need to speak, though, Jason got the sense that there was something on Roman’s mind. Figuring that it would come out on its own, though, Jason didn’t press just yet.

“Sorry my estranged brother ruined our spa day,” he said instead.

It was Roman’s turn to shrug. “Ah, well. You tolerate certain things from in-laws.”

A laugh passed between them, comfortable and warm, despite what had happened. 

“Hey, Roman?“ Jason prompted, not quite sure of what to say just yet.

Roman’s attention returned to him, eyes focused and interested. Jason was sure that he could have said anything at all in that moment, and Roman would have hung on every word. But he only really wanted to say one thing.

“You can talk to me. Whatever it is, I want to know.”

Roman hummed, his mouth opening briefly before it shut again, like he was having trouble finding the right words. Only after a long pause did finally speak, drawing out each word with a methodical precision.

“I know I’m not what you or your family would call a good person.”

Immediately, Jason’s heart ached. “You let Damian get in your head, didn't you?"

“Is that his name?” Roman asked.

Jason felt a twinge as he realized that he was a Bat family security breach on legs. But it stopped at a twinge, because, at this point, he didn’t believe that Roman cared to hunt Damian, or Bruce, or anyone down on a whim.

So instead, Jason took a deep breath.

“I know you do bad shit. I knew that going into this, I knew what you’ve done to people, and no, it’s not something I like,” he admitted. “But none of that stopped me from falling in the deep end with you.”

Jason reached out to offer a hand to Roman, whose eyes only grew more thoughtful and unfocused as he spoke. He let out a long exhale before closing the distance and taking Jason’s hand in his own.

“Well,” he said, as ponderous as he appeared. “At least you’re not in that pit by yourself.” 

Once again, a smile found its way across Jason’s lips, and his heart only thumped harder as Roman threaded their fingers together.

“So, I’m yours now, huh?” he asked, leaning in to lock eyes with Jason.

“Yeah. Told you, you belong to me, and no one’s taking you away.”

“Never thought anyone would want to fight to be with me, let alone win that fight.” He gave a half-hearted scoff at the idea. “You’re something else.”

Roman’s grasp on Jason’s hand tightened, and he glanced away from Jason, like he’d felt a sudden pain.

“I don’t deserve you,” he said suddenly, like he was only now realizing it.

“I don’t care,” Jason said in a breathless mumble.

Roman’s brow seemed to quirk, and he looked at Jason like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“ _I don’t care_ ,” Jason repeated, confident beyond any reason. “I don’t care if it’s selfish, or if Damian hates you, or whatever my family might think of it. All I know is that I’d rather live with you than without you.

“Come on, you don’t mean-”

Jason leaned up, unconcerned with his bandages and reached out to touch Roman’s face, stroking down his cheek and jawline. The gesture silenced Roman, and Jason could feel him tense, even as he pressed into Jason’s touch.

“But I _do_ ,” Jason started, closing as much distance between them as he could manage. “I love you. If anything happened to you, I’d...”

Jason swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut at the thought. Roman wouldn’t want hear it. He-

Jason’s thoughts were cut off as he felt Roman nudge his face up against his own, pressing their foreheads together.

“I love you too,” Roman declared in kind, in a way that told Jason exactly how obvious he thought it was.

In that moment, Jason was light as a feather, half-amazed, half-giddy. He wanted to do so much then, to tell Roman so many things, but he knew words wouldn’t be good enough. So, instead, Jason tipped his head and kissed Roman.

And Roman? Roman kissed him right back.


End file.
